The 30 most popular brands of alcoholic beverages spend more than $760 million annually to sponsor the most prominent sports competitions, teams, and athletes.
If you pay attention during commercial breaks at any major sporting event, you will almost certainly see numerous alcohol brands promoting their products. Alcohol brands currently have more than 280 active deals with sports organizations, according to Sportcal, a company that provides sports market intelligence.
The brand-new Sector Report on Sport Sponsorship: The report Alcoholic Beverages examines alcohol brands in the sports industry and their spending patterns.
Beer companies made up 89% of the 281 deals that Sportcal looked at, making them the biggest players. With 4.3 percent, the champagne market came in second, followed by wine (2.5 percent), cider (2.5 percent), and vineyards.
Heineken NV Enterprise Tech Ecosystem Dutch brewing company Heineken is the most invested brand in the alcoholic beverage industry. According to Sportcal data, Heineken currently has 25 active contracts, including a $10 million agreement with Major League Soccer and a $21.4 million agreement with Formula One.
The top five include Carlsberg (6%), Amstel (4.6%), Bud Light (6.4%), and Budweiser (7.1%). Only one of the top ten brands, Moet Chandon, does not sell beer as its primary product.
Bud Light, on the other hand, is the industry's biggest spender, despite the fact that Heineken has the most deals overall. The American brand's $230 million annual sponsorship of the National Football League propels it to the top of the list, with $249.7 million spent on all of its current deals.
Heineken, the industry's second-largest spender, on sports sponsorship deals only gives out $118.3 million annually. MillerCoors, ranked fifth, spends $59.5 million at the moment.
Audience of interest: European football fans are the most likely target demographic for alcohol brands because football is the most popular sport in the world. Sportcal looked at roughly 49% of the active deals with football-related organizations and individuals.
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Brands are more than happy to enter into long-term partnerships with sports teams in the vast majority of these deals. The majority of these contracts are expected to last three to five years.
Cricket, the next most popular sport, has only attracted 10.3% of the active deals. The top five sports are American football (8.9%), rugby union (7.5%), and tennis (5%)
Alcohol brands prefer to sign regional deals rather than global ones, according to the report. The fact that the majority of sponsors target the European market, which is home to the sport's biggest tournaments and clubs as well as its best talent, should not come as a surprise either. 59% of current deals are geared toward European customers. North America is the second largest market, with 20%.
Why do alcohol companies care about sports?
Sportcal's Head of Sponsorship, Conrad Wiacek, told Verdict:
“In the hope of reaching its core target audience, namely older males who did not respond as strongly to traditional advertising, alcohol brands, and specifically beer brands, began to associate themselves with sports. Alcohol brands were able to associate themselves with sports and "share" in the sporting successes and failures by partnering with teams and athletes. As a result, they became part of the conversation and gained fan loyalty.
"A recent example of this was Bud Light and the Cleveland Browns providing fans with free beer following the Browns' first win in over two years, which was done brilliantly."
Campaign groups and lawmakers are putting more pressure on alcohol brands to target sporting events because many believe that doing so exposes young people to alcohol and encourages them to drink.
The report's findings, on the other hand, demonstrate that such pressure has had little effect on the alcoholic beverage industry, despite the challenges that come with it. In point of fact, as audiences shift, the industry is beginning to see a wider range of alcoholic beverage manufacturers experiment with sports.
Brands that are associated with sports have also changed as the audience at sporting events has become more diverse, with more women attending and supporting teams. “Wine producers are among those looking to partner with sporting teams and events to reach a diverse target audience,” Wiacek stated. This strategy is no longer the preserve of beer or whiskey brands.
The report says that focusing on sporting events could be a good way for the industry to use the health benefits of sports to improve its image and avoid the negative perception that drinking alcohol is bad for your health.
Nevertheless, alcohol and sports make perfect sense, according to Wiacek. Brands of alcohol are more than happy to give in to the desire of consumers to have a beer while watching the game.
According to Wiacek, "these associations make sense for the brands on numerous levels" because "the majority of fans want to enjoy a drink with their sport."
